Declan Rice

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TonyM said:
I completely agree that we will decline at some stage just like every other successful team in the past. But my hope is that we are trying our best to stave that off as long as possible and don't fall into the trap that others have in thinking that we just deserve to win by nature of who we are.
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To give City credit, your ownership and strategy these past few years have been impressive so I don’t doubt you’d feel confident about the future.
 
Jack Hackett said:
I wasn’t stating hopes as facts…that’s your strawman. Merely pointing out that as attractive as City are, Arsenal are not without their selling points too. My feeling that City may have reached their zenith is an opinion which is not wildly improbable.
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No - you weren’t pointing out how attractive City are at all. Stop trying to lie your way out of it.

What you were doing was stating one of the greatest Club sides in English football history, who have just won the Treble and the Champions League - both feats your Club has never managed in its 100+ year history - is ageing, has clearly reached its peak, and has a Manager who’s gearing up to leave.

Whereas Arsenal are apparently the only team who’ve twigged it might be a smart idea to invest in youth, and have a Manager you know will be in place for the next decade - even though his contract ends at exactly the same time as ours.

And the reality is the facts simply don’t support any of the fantastical nonsense you came out with, however much you might wish they did!
 
Jack Hackett said:
To give City credit, your ownership and strategy these past few years have been impressive so I don’t doubt you’d feel confident about the future.
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Wow, you’re not doing your club‘s reputation much good sounding off like this. In the past it was Spurs fans, looks like the new arrogant tossers are their noisy neighbours….
 
Jack Hackett said:
My feeling that City may have reached their zenith is an opinion which is not wildly improbable.
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Many United and Liverpool fans, and even some City fans, had the feeling that when Aguero, D. Silva, Kompany, Fernandinho...leave, City wouldn't be the same force any more. We had City fans predicting that we may struggle to make the top 4 in 20/21. After we drew with United and WBA in December 2020, many were pessimistic and thought Pep was finished. Guess what, City won the next 21 games and went from strength to strength, winning 3 league titles in a row and the Treble. The opposite happened: City got stronger after losing some legendary players, not weaker.

Now the narrative is: Gundogan left, Bernardo might leave, KDB is ageing, their dominance might be over. But Pep is quietly building the next team, with plenty of great players who are (not yet) in their prime: Ederson, Stones, Dias, Ake, Akanji, Gvardiol (?), Rodri, Grealish, Foden, Alvarez, Haaland... The likes of Haaland, Foden and Alvarez are likely to get better! The transition from a midfield with Gundo and Bernie to a midfield without them (and it's not even clear that Bernie will leave) is likely to be smooth, given who is the manager. The defence and the attack don't need big changes, the players are in or before their prime.
 
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Jack Hackett said:
To give City credit, your ownership and strategy these past few years have been impressive so I don’t doubt you’d feel confident about the future.
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I am but humans seldom break these cycles for some weird reason because if they have any sense they can see the writing on the wall.
 
Nicholas van Whatsisface said:
No - you weren’t pointing out how attractive City are at all. Stop trying to lie your way out of it.

What you were doing was stating one of the greatest Club sides in English football history, who have just won the Treble and the Champions League - both feats your Club has never managed in its 100+ year history - is ageing, has clearly reached its peak, and has a Manager who’s gearing up to leave.

Whereas Arsenal are apparently the only team who’ve twigged it might be a smart idea to invest in youth, and have a Manager you know will be in place for the next decade - even though his contract ends at exactly the same time as ours.

And the reality is the facts simply don’t support any of the fantastical nonsense you came out with, however much you might wish they did!
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Read my post again. I explicitly refereed to the obvious attractions of City. Another strawman from you.
 
Jack Hackett said:
I wasn’t stating hopes as facts…that’s your strawman. Merely pointing out that as attractive as City are, Arsenal are not without their selling points too. My feeling that City may have reached their zenith is an opinion which is not wildly improbable.
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What a zenith to reach. Treble winners. Something likely never to be achieved by Arsenal.

Pep.

First PL manager to 100 points.
2 Community Shields.
4 League Cups.(Carabao Cups)
2 FA Cups.
5 PL Titles
1 CL Trophy
2 English Doubles.
1 English Treble/Quadruple. (in 1 season)
1 The (proper) Treble.
A possible Community Shield, European Super Cup, World Club Champions Trophy.

Let that sink in Jack!

As for another PL invincible team, it's highly unlikely, but Pep's got at least another 2 attempts at it.
 
Ste68 said:
Think that’s why Pep is building a new one. A treble , 3 in a row on top of the 100ponts , domestic treble and all the other trophies may have satiated the desire of some players but not Pep. He will replace anyone not hungry for more or not able to contribute or willing to work their way back into the team. It’s brutal but think it will keep us competing for every competition we are in. Am hoping to see angry Pep again next year so hopefully Arsenal can co-ordinate another leaked letter to get him fired up. I also don’t believe anyone can believe Arteta is safe at Arsenal, expectations will have been raised but nothing has been won. Teams tend to start a season how they ended the last one and unlike the Klopp team who maintained the push and form when we beat them this Arsenal side looked mentally shot. A bad start after big money spent will cause questions to be asked and Arsenal fans and teams tend to throw in the towel quickly.
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Jack's comment isn't particularly insightful in so far that a season like this one is probably a generational thing and very hard to sustain. Personally I think we can dominate for at least as long as Pep is still around and possibly for 4 or 5 years after he's gone. The history of the English game suggests that we are unlikely to do a Munich and remain on top for an eternity.In the short term another league for four in a row will do nicely thank you and make Jack a bit sad.
 
jrb said:
What a zenith to reach. Treble winners. Something likely never to be achieved by Arsenal.

Pep.

First PL manager to 100 points.
2 Community Shields.
4 League Cups.(Carabao Cups)
2 FA Cups.
5 PL Titles
1 CL Trophy
2 Doubles.
1 English Treble/Quadruple. (in 1 season)
1 The (proper) Treble.
A possible Community Shield, European Super Cup, World Club Champions Trophy.

Let that sink in Jack.

As for another PL invincible team, it's highly unlikely, but Pep's got at least another 2 attempts at it.
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Hugely impressive as I’ve already stated.
 
Arsenal fans getting quite desperate it seems over Rice being their Massiah. He genuinely isn’t that good. It shows how far City have come that we can be quite so self assured that he would just be a squad player for us.
Campions of Europe - Rice will still never say that…….
 
Father Paul said:
Jack's comment isn't particularly insightful in so far that a season like this one is probably a generational thing and very hard to sustain. Personally I think we can dominate for at least as long as Pep is still around and possibly for 4 or 5 years after he's gone. The history of the English game suggests that we are unlikely to do a Munich and remain on top for an eternity.In the short term another league for four in a row will do nicely thank you and make Jack a bit sad.
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You winning the title again won’t make me sad but we’re you to dominate like Bayern for years to come, it wouldn’t be sad but just boring.
 
Jack Hackett said:
Methinks you do protest too much. I’ve no idea if Rice will sign for you but to say Arsenal under Arteta isn’t also an attractive proposition is to be somewhat dismissive. As for City continuing to rule the roost…maybe they will but I doubt it because every empire in history has ultimately come to an end. Yours maybe not next year or even the year after that but it will sometime come to an end. Nothing lasts for ever. Obviously, I’m hoping that Arsenal are ready to take advantage of that when it happens.
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Jack Hackett said:
You winning the title again won’t make me sad but we’re you to dominate like Bayern for years to come, it wouldn’t be sad but just boring.
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Like you and the rags years ago, many years ago. I think West Ham are using us as leverage to get the price up for Rice who clearly wants to stay in London rather than win trophies
 
Any1aBlue said:
Arsenal fans getting quite desperate it seems over Rice being their Massiah. He genuinely isn’t that good. It shows how far City have come that we can be quite so self assured that he would just be a squad player for us.
Campions of Europe - Rice will still never say that…….
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After seeing Grealish and Phillips first seasons at City, I’m sure Rice is only all too aware of that…
 
Jack Hackett said:
You winning the title again won’t make me sad but we’re you to dominate like Bayern for years to come, it wouldn’t be sad but just boring.
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Boring for for everyone else.

Its yours and the other clubs problem not ours you are all so far behind us.

You and the rest can talk and talk and talk but it comes down to 11 v 11.
We are just so much better unfortunately and I love it.
 
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